Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 1288

[Chapter 237 Return to Byzantium]

At this time, Melisanda asked: “I see on this map that the distance from Egypt to Cyprus seems to be farther than the distance from Crete to Cyrenaica, such a long sea distance, and it is impossible to travel on the road. After stopping to rest and replenish drinking water, can the troop transport fleet really arrive smoothly? After our fleet reaches the waters near Cyprus, will it still have the ability to fight?”

Karsidis replied seriously: “I specifically asked carefully about the Those Greek merchants in Naukrates who often go to Cyprus to trade, they all told me that there will be no storms in the Near East waters during this season. As long as you have enough water on the ship and keep sailing day and night, it only takes three or four days. Able to reach Cyprus (one of the main reasons why ships sail faster than land marches is that as long as you look for the route and use the sails, it can sail 24 hours a day), and we can hire these Naukrates merchants as guides for Let’s lead the way.

As for the navy… I still remember that they had a long run from Sicily to Carthage and eventually defeated the Carthaginian fleet. They should be very experienced in this area, of course, they need to make their own judgments.”

“Cyprus Island How is the defense? How many troops are there?” Matonis was a little moved, and his tone became eager.

“A few decades ago, Cyprus was only a subsidiary of Persia. The king of Cyprus once united the Greek city-states of Asia Minor several times and wanted to gain independence. Persia finally suppressed it. Since then, the Persians have learned their lessons and abolished them. The king of Cyprus, who divided Cyprus into several city-states, and did not allow them to build tall and thick walls, would be against Persia.

Although I don’t know how many troops Cyprus can muster against us, it is clear that their The defense capability is not strong, and their largest city-state, Nicosia, is located in the center of the plain and is easy to be captured… Moreover, just now, you all felt that it is difficult to attack Cyprus from the sea. We all have this idea, and the Cypriots will not Thinking of this, our raid will be a success!”

After Karsidis finished speaking, the eyes of the legion commanders lit up.

Davos coughed lightly, attracted the attention of the generals, and said in a deep voice: “It is indeed a good idea to attack Cyprus from the sea, but this is more to gain dominance of the sea, not our attack on the Persian Near East. The main route of the region, after all, except for the Gulf of Issus, other regions do not have the conditions for large-scale landing…

And according to the information, the Persians have assembled a large number of troops in the Mesopotamia. Once we capture Cyprus, we will inevitably It will arouse the vigilance of the Persians. They will definitely strengthen the defense of the coast of Issus. If our main force wants to land in the Near East, it will undoubtedly take great risks. Therefore, our offensive focus should still be placed on land. On.

As long as we occupy Cyprus and destroy the Persian fleet, the transport fleet can sail along the coast with confidence and boldness, and can supply troops on land marching at any time.

Even with the transportation guarantee by sea, our army can completely Don’t attack Gaza, just go north—”

Davos looked down at the small narrow seaside area north of Gaza City on the map, with a complicated expression: “Karsidis, do you know anything about Jerusalem in Canaan? ”

Your Majesty, I have asked people that the Jews living in Jerusalem are a weak people. They were slaughtered by the Assyrians and imprisoned the survivors in Babylon, although the Persians later released them and let them They returned to their hometown, but after a few decades, their number is still small…

I heard that they sent someone to beg the Persian king a few years ago, hoping to allocate some money to rebuild their dilapidated temple. The Persian king agreed. At

their request, they even appointed Nehemiah, who was also a Jew, the cupbearer they trusted, to serve as the governor of Jerusalem to take charge of the matter.

As a result, after Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he had an affair with Sanballat, the governor of Samaria to the east. Contradictions, and conflicts continue to this day… So the weak Jews are powerless to stop our army, and we can even occupy here-” Karsidis pointed to an icon on the map: “Jaffa, a port town in the Jerusalem area. , for our fleet to berth…”

“Very good!” Davos looked away from the map, looked around at everyone, and said solemnly: “Everyone, I think everyone agrees with the suggestion made by Kalsidis, so I will recruit Sekley as soon as possible. Ann, Midorades and Stepakas, hold another military meeting to discuss the feasibility of attacking Cyprus and annihilating the main force of the Persian fleet…

Whatever the outcome of the next military meeting, the attack on Persia will be Initiated in a short period of time, I only hope that you will use this time to let the soldiers of each legion learn and adapt to marching, camping and fighting in the desert as soon as possible!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Everyone responded in unison.

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The next day Davos took Asistes and High Priest Amenhotep to Punta Sacrificing with the temple of Osiris, he was warmly welcomed by the priests of the temple, and he also had close contact with Apis, the holy cow raised in the temple.

The black fat cow with only a little white star spot on its forehead behaved very friendly to him, flapping its tail, and quickly ate the forage he handed over, making the priests of Puta and Orissis shout loudly. Praise (Apis was first considered to be the incarnation of the creation god Pta, and later evolved into the incarnation of Osiris): “Pharaoh Davos is worthy of being the son of Amon, and even the comfortable holy cow dare not slack off. Then Davos went to

the

temple of Nate, the goddess of wisdom and war, to worship. He even promised Amonhotep that he would take time to worship at the Temple of Karak in Thebes, but he refused. Another piece of advice from the Egyptian high priest: Go to the Temple of Amun in the Oasis of Siwa to get the oracle.

Siwa Oasis is located in the desert of western Egypt, where the temple of Amon is quite ancient and highly respected. Its oracles are famous far and wide. Not only Egyptians often go to worship, but even Greeks have many admirers, especially It is in Thessaly and Macedonia in northern Greece.

The reason why Davos refused was not because it was very difficult to go to Siwa Oasis, although he remembered that Alexander in his previous life had gone to the Temple of Siwa Oasis to worship after conquering Egypt, and he encountered a lot of hardships along the way. However, Amenhotep has repeatedly stated that although Siwa Oasis is located in the desert, the road is very safe due to the frequent pilgrimages.

The problem that Davos considered was that many Greeks who went to the Siwa oasis to worship saw Amon in that temple as the incarnation of Zeus in Egypt. In history, Alexander claimed that he was the child of Zeus, and of course he went to the temple to worship. Bye, but Davos, who is a descendant of Hattis, is obviously not suitable.

………………………………………………………………

At the same time that King Davos arrived in Egypt, led by Wolsey, Heniki, and Sabine The central Italian coalition also landed in Asia Minor by boat, so far all the Greek coalition troops under the command of Leoticides have gathered.

During the period when the Greek coalition troops arrived one after another, he did not wait quietly, but was always in an active offensive situation. Not only did he continuously force down towns near the Hellespont Strait, but he also used the victory in the naval battle of Samos. He led the main force to leave the coastline and penetrated deep into the interior of Misia, and at the same time sent part of the army south into Lydia.

Due to the inability of the Persian army to fight against it, the Greek coalition forces were shocked. Not only the coastal Greek city-states, such as Bosworth, Chios, etc., surrendered one after another, but even some towns in the interior of Misia and Lydia also surrendered to it. .

During this period, an interesting incident happened. The commander of the Tenth Legion, Stephoros, made a request to Leoticides: he hoped that he would be able to take a force to the other side of the strait and force Byzantium to surrender.

Thirty years ago, the predecessors of the Dionian army, the Persian mercenaries, had been humiliated in Byzantium, including King Davos. Leoticides had heard about this, and he knew in his heart: this The request is probably not the will of Steveros himself, but comes from his father, Amyntas, and may even be the collective instigation of many veterans in the army.

Of course Leoticides would not refuse, and even because there was not much military pressure at the moment, he generously approved: Stephros could lead the entire Tenth Legion to go.

Stephros led the army to land on the beach near Byzantium, and just after setting up camp, the Byzantine messenger arrived, and humbly said to him: Byzantium is willing to serve the Holy Kingdom of Dionia as the master!

For Byzantium, who had changed almost a generation, the incident that happened decades ago has long been forgotten, but the Byzantines knew that Athens and Sparta, which they once attached to, and even the entire Greek mainland were crawling there. At the feet of Dionia, the power of Dionia had not yet spread to the sea of Yoke, and the Byzantines could still pretend to be ignorant. .

Of course, Stephros will not take the initiative to bring up the embarrassing things of the year, but put forward some harsh requirements, such as providing a large amount of food, tribute, and also providing fleets and labor to provide assistance for the army… Byzantium all accept.

The Byzantines were so knowledgeable. Of course, Steveros could not make trouble without reason. He had to lead 8,000 heavily armed soldiers in an armed parade in the Byzantine city. Finally, he asked the Byzantine government to build a memorial column in the port. The top must be inlaid with Diver. Statue of the King of Sri Lanka wielding a sword on horseback.

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